Interlink Co., Ltd. offers more than 1,000 TLDs. This website focuses on about 50 types of "island domains" such as .cc, .tv, .sx, etc. operated by remote islands in the South Pacific and Caribbean. We will explore these islands first hand and report on the uniqueness and diversity of the islands and the domains they offer.

Tag: The Caribbean

It tookAfter a 40-hours one-way trip to get to Tuvalu, in and meeting fishing pigs in Tonga I met fishing pigs, and now it was off to the seventh stop on the Domain Island Tour, is Anguilla. The ccTLD (country code top level domain) is “.ai”.

◆Where is Anguilla?

Anguilla is a British island in the Caribbean Sea (West Indies). The shape of the island is like an “eel”
so it was called “Anguila” (Eel in Spanish) or “Anguille” (Eel in French).

◆Domain “.ai” Also Short for Artificial Intelligence, is Used by both Google and Microsoft

Artificial intelligence is being talked about more and more. Websites related to artificial intelligence are beginning to use the domain “.ai”. Since the domain name is the abbreviation for “Artificial Intelligence”, it has become popular as a domain name to directly express a connection to AI in a URL or e-mail address.

For example, I found some artificial intelligence related websites that use the domain “.ai”.

It is used by well-known companies like Google and Microsoft, that invest large amounts of research money into the development of artificial intelligence.
So, the people of Anguilla are possibly living in close quarters with AI, don’t you think?
With this expectation in mind, I start off to investigate the island.

◆The Most Beautiful Beach in the Caribbean!

The island of Anguilla, floating in the Caribbean Sea, has many beaches. Of these, I visited “Shoal Bay Beach” where Hollywood celebrities hang out.

It is approximately ten minutes by car from the capital “The Valley”. The sea is already visible when I get out of the car.

◆The Most Dangerous Beach in the Caribbean! How to Climb Down?!

On the island of Anguilla, I used a taxi to do some sightseeing. The beloved car of the driver, Mr. Conner, is a Toyota Vellfire.

No way, this car is the Japanese model!

After leaving the popular Shoal Bay Beach, we head for a beach recommended by Mr. Conner. I see the hull of an old ship out the car window.

We come to a stop on a grassy cliff. “Here we are. Just go down this road” says Mr. Conner.

“Road”… What road? I’m quite bewildered.

Finally, I spot animal track that I walk down a few minutes. The sea appears before my eyes.

This is Mr. Conner’s favorite beach “Little Bay.”

The clarity of the water is true Caribbean.

As far as I can see from the top of the cliff, there is not a single person. A perfect private beach!
Let’s head down to Little Bay. Looking for the stairs, I spot a yellow rope.

There are no stairs. There is no other way to get down this near vertical cliff than to hang on to this rope and climb down. In other words, only those who want the thrill of descending the cliff can reach Little Bay.

Of course, you have to climb back up the rope on the way back. No wonder there is no one on the beach.

The Caribbean makes me think of “pirates”. Surely, “Antiques” equals “loot wrested from pirates”. What kind of hidden treasures can we find?

I enter the shop and antiques from various countries come into sight. Yes, definitely a pirate.

There were some relatively old Buddhist statues. When I asked the owner of the store, he told be the Buddhist statue from Japan is worth more than 2 million yen. However, when questioned closely, it came out that the things that are exhibited and sold here were bought by the shop owner in various countries. They were not “treasures wrested from the pirates of the Caribbean”, but “treasures bought by the connoisseurs of the Caribbean”. The shop owner also happily told me: “My niece is studying Japanese in Shinjuku.”

◆ The Oldest House in Anguilla

In 1632, Anguilla was taken over by England and became a colony. While I was exploring the town, I found a remnant of the colonial period.

“Wallblake House”, built in the late 1700s. It’s the oldest house on the island.

The stone monument states that this mansion was built by slave labour, and that sugar and cotton were cultivated on the plantation.

Next to Wallblake House there is a church that was built a few years later, it was full of the voices of people who came to pray.

◆Satisfied by the Caribbean Cuisine of a Popular Local Restaurant

What kind of dishes come to mind when you think of Caribbean cuisine? In Japan there are few such specialty restaurants so I had no idea. So, I went to a popular local restaurant called “Tasty’s”.
There is a bar counter at the front of the shop, and a dining area arranged at the back.

First, I ordered Bahamian cuisine, the renowned Conch fritters (16 dollars.) The conch shells that make natural jewelry were also used to elegantly decorate the interior of the restaurant.

An abundance of springy conch snails encased in crisp coatings of batter.

Next, a dish well known in Hawaii, “Mahi-mahi” (or dolphinfish.) Sprinkled with a kind of bean sauce (24 dollars.) Light and easy to eat with no fishy smell.

This one is “Shrimp sauté” (24 dollars.) Many dishes use seafood.

However, the meat dishes were not to be left behind. The thick but soft “Pork sauté” went wonderfully well with a sweet salsa-like sauce (24 dollars).

If you visit Anguilla, be sure to get your fill of delicious, locally sourced Caribbean cuisine.

◆Anguilla and Artificial Intelligence

Freshly picked coconuts on sale in the supermarket.

Instead of having a lot of traffic lights, there are “speed hump” zones. The size of these “humps” is much bigger than the ones in Japan, so be careful if you are driving and talking.

I stayed at the “Easy Corner Villas” equipped with Wi-Fi and TV. Unfortunately, I could not use the Wi-Fi or TV, so I spent a very quiet night ($180 / per night, / per person)

Mr. Conner honks his horn loudly when passing other cars and people. When I asked why, he said he was: “Greeting friends”.

Since Anguilla provides the “.ai” domain, I thought that the people living here would be living in close association with AI, but as you can see, AI is in no way a part of their daily lives. From now on, “.ai” will continue to grow as a domain for artificial intelligence, and more people will know about “Anguilla”. But, as the people of Anguilla themselves have no idea of such a thing, they are left to the quiet flow of life.

I went to the British Virgin Islands, which are tax haven islands, in hopes of getting some hints on how to get rich.

The Virgin Islands consist of about 160 volcanic islands and reefs located in the West Indies, Caribbean Sea. The western half (about 50 islands) are U.S territory, while the eastern half (about 60 islands) are British territory. But all these islands use U.S. dollars.

There was a free real estate brochure at the airport.

A luxurious villa for about a hundred forty million yen (1,285,000 US$) was listed.

All the other properties were over a hundred million yen (about 1 million US$)!

Are only millionaires living in these tax haven islands? I am going to head downtown right away and find out.

The road from the airport is bumpy, and I bounce up and down in the car.

I arrive at the Tortola Pier Park after about a 30 minutes shaking.

Tortola Park had souvenir shops, and tour agents, and a small shopping mall.

The toilet is so nice that it surprises me. The toilet is made by TOTO, a proud Japanese company. I think I can live here.

As I walk around downtown I dream of running into rich Arabian oil barons.

But actually…. I see decrepit used cars pass by one after another!

The parking lots also have many cars with broken windows and broken lights.

①Investigating at a Sushi Bar
I found a sushi restaurant in the Virgin Islands! I expect there will be Japanese people there, and I can ask them about the tax havens.

However, inside, the staff members were gentle Jamaicans and there were no Japanese in sight.

As this is a tax haven island, I wonder if the high-end sushi is sprinkled with gold powder? Here is the menu.

I was relieved, there was reasonably priced sushi as well. Apparently, the owner is a Filipino. This must be why the sushi rolls are colorful and somehow tropical.

I ordered the mango dragon for 13 dollars. An original sushi roll came made of shrimp tempura wrapped in vinegared rice with mango on top. The sweet mango goes unexpectedly well with the vinegared rice and crispy shrimp tempura.

The sushi was delicious, but I was not able to get any clues for my tax haven investigation. In the restaurant garden, there is a Western style statue, completely opposite to anything Oriental.

②Investigating at a Chinese Restaurant
Near the sushi restaurant I find a Chinese restaurant, so I decide to do some spying here as well.

Yakisoba and fried rice, 8 to 12 dollars. There was a lot, but it was good, so I finished it up.

The shop owner here was Chinese, and very kind. There seems to be Chinese people in every country. But here too, I got no information on tax havens.

③A visit to the Electronics Shop
I got a bit down because I couldn’t get any information, so I decided to go back to basics in my investigation and headed for the electronics shop.

This is the shop.

There were plenty of video games and related items, such as PlayStation, Wii, Xbox etc.

The also sell Mac Book Air and iPhones.

I tried buying an Iphone connector, and I could do it without paying any taxes! The receipt has 0 tax.

It seems that some people travel to the British Virgin Islands for the express purpose of buying tax-free items, such as Iphones. Later, when I went through customs in the airport in Puerto Rico, the customs officer was quite persistent when asking if I had made purchases beyond the tax exemption limit.

④Investigating at an Internet Cafe
As I now had confirmation about things being tax-free, I decided next to infiltrate an internet cafe.

Electronic devices are sold in the front, and at the back there is an internet cafe. I searched for addresses of tax haven crime scenes, but I couldn’t find anything…

◆The plot thickens!

While searching for various tax havens on the Internet, I found the address “AKARA BUILDING; 24 DE CASTRO STREET WICKHAMS CAY 1; ROAD TOWN; TORTOLA; BRITISH VIRIGN ISLANDS”, so I decided to head there directly. There’s a building at that address with AKARA written on it. Are these the offices of a shell company!?

And, the mysterious PO boxes are nearby!

In the Virgin Islands, as of June 2016, it became necessary to register tax related personal and corporate information in a government database, making it difficult to establish a shell company. （Source: ZUU online）

It seems that the PO boxes I discovered are the ruins of what once belonged to a shell company.

■Near the Airport, Beef Island Beach
Only 5 minutes’ drive from the airport, this is a superb beach. There’s no one here, so I can enjoy it all to myself. However, you can’t rent a beach umbrella, so you must be sure to put on sunscreen.

Some students I met downtown

Staff of the Old Government House Museum

A taxi driver who took good care of me. It was a wonderful visit and everyone was so kind that I got a little teary when it was time to say goodbye.

But, looking at the coast, there is a container ship, so maybe…

Maybe some kind of business deals we don’t know about are happening. Container information was also posted in the real estate catalog distributed at the airport.

■Hurricane Irma

On September 7th, 2017, Hurricane Irma hit the Virgin Islands. Even though a year has passed, there are still scars. I wish full reconstruction for them.

So it turns out that many of the people living in the Virgin Island are African immigrants, including Jamaican people, I couldn’t find any of these rich folk using the tax havens. The local people were gentle and law-abiding, but I often saw run-down second-hand Japanese cars, and some hitchhiking. The beaches are beautiful and excellent for marine activities.

The True Colors of the Virgin Islands; once tax havens islands, but now with an atmosphere a bit short on luxury.